Have you ever noticed two seemingly identical movies being released at the same time and wondered why Hollywood studios would do such a thing? While you may have first chalked it up to mere coincidence, a quick scroll through the list below suggests otherwise.

Earlier this week, Redditor CircadianHour compiled a list of ‘twin movies‘. As to why? Another commenter (tossedsaladandscram) suggests that competing studios often own similar movie scripts and if one studio gets wind that another is making a movie that is similar to a script they own they may try to make it and put it out earlier or around the same time.

A secondary reason, suggested by Ducksaucenem, implies the benefits of shared marketing and buzz, especially if Studio B has a smaller budget. Interestingly, this could be why studios prefer to buy exclusive rights to comics and graphic novels, so other studios can’t replicate the storyline.

Coincidence or not, below is a list of strangely similar movies released around the same time. Any suggestions for additional ‘twin movies’ please let me know in the comments! 24 more after the break...